PITTSTON, PA (November 25, 2025) -- The King's College men's ice hockey team picked up their first victory of the season on Tuesday night at the Revolution Ice Centre, defeating Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) opponent Misericordia, 4-2. The Monarchs improve to 1-5-1 overall with the same mark in the MAC, while the Cougars drop to 0-7-1 on the season and 0-5-1 in conference play.
 
Tuesday's win also marked the first of Race Bennett's tenure as head coach of the Monarchs.
 
Grant Parshall and Thomas Soucy found the back of the net to give King's a 2-0 lead in the first period before Logan Gallagher and Teodor Benno Vaage tacked on insurance markers to send the team into the Thanksgiving break with a conference victory
 
King's struck early in the first, as a timely stick lift by Parshall sent him off to the races on an odd-man rush with Gianmarco Caringi. Parshall ripped a shot from the near side faceoff dot that beat the Cougars' goaltender to his blocker side. Parshall's first goal of the season came unassisted at 3:02, giving the Monarchs a 1-0 lead.
 
Misericordia mounted some pressure in the offensive zone following the goal, firing two shots on King's netminder Diego D'Alessandro. The junior turned aside both attempts to preserve the lead before the Monarchs drew the first penalty of the game; an interference minor at 12:27.
 
Although the King's power play unit wasn't able to capitalize, Soucy managed to double the team's lead at 18:16 with an even strength marker. Catching the Cougars in transition, Gallagher was patient with the puck, drawing a defenseman toward him before directing a cross-ice pass to Soucy on the far side. The sophomore snapped a shot that snuck by the goalie to extend the lead to 2-0. Gallagher and Kevin MArtin picked up helpers on Soucy's third goal of the season at 18:16.
 
Misericordia opened the second period on an abbreviated power play that was killed thanks to an early save by D'Alessandro. The teams traded chances in the early stages of the middle frame, with King's holding the Cougars at bay with blocks by Emil Pyyhtia and Benno Vaage along with two more saves by D'Alessandro.
 
The Monarchs headed back to the penalty kill at 8:19 of the second period and Misericordia took advantage, scoring a power play goal at 8:47 to cut their deficit in half.
 
Undeterred, the Monarchs went right back to work, utilizing a clean entry into the offensive zone to set up a beautiful tic-tac-toe goal. Gallagher dropped a pass to Soucy, who quickly sent the puck over to Parshall. Parshall returned a pass back to a wide-open Gallagher, who buried a one-timer to quickly restore the two-goal lead at 10:12. Soucy and Parshall were credited with assists on Gallagher's first goal as a Monarch, bringing the score to 3-1.
 
King's got another chance on the man advantage at 12:26 when a Cougar was called for interference. After doing an excellent job of protecting the puck in the offensive zone, Gallagher fed a short pass to Benno Vaage at the point. The junior unleashed a one-time slapshot that sailed through several Misericordia defenders before beating the goaltender's right pad. Gallagher tacked on his third point of the night with the lone assist on Benno Vaage's first of the season; a power play goal that built King's lead to 4-1 at 13:02.
 
Both teams were penalized late in the period to create a 4-on-4 stretch of play. Despite several quality scoring opportunities on both sides, the score remained 4-1 in favor of the Monarchs after 40 minutes of action.
 
Misericordia opened the final frame with a slew of scoring chances, peppering the net with 12 shots. D'Alessandro stood tall in the crease, turning aside each shot before the Cougars potted a loose rebound into the goal to bring the score to 4-2 at 11:02.
 
The visitors continued to press for offense, but were stifled by several more saves by D'Alessandro as well as some defensive help by Erik Hegyi, who blocked another attempt.
 
Misericordia elected to pull their goalie in favor of the extra attacker with just under a minute to go in regulation, however the Monarchs interrupted passes and successfully cleared their zone multiple times to secure the 4-2 victory and earn three points in the MAC standings.
 
Gallagher led the offensive charge with a goal and two assists along with a team-high four shots to cap his three-point night. Soucy and Parshall both posted two-point performances with a goal and an assist each. Benno Vaage rounded out the scoring for King's.
 
Martin led the team with 13 faceoff wins, followed closely behind with Parshall's 10 wins at the dot. The Monarch power play unit converted on one of four opportunities.
 
Defensively, Pyyhtia and Zane Burleigh laid out for a pair of blocks each. Behind them, D'Alessandro denied 31 shots to pick up the win between the pipes.
 
After a brief break for Thanksgiving, King's hits the road for a two-game non-conference road trip to New York. The first stop is Pine Valley, where the Monarchs face off against Elmira College on Friday at 7:00 p.m.